U.S. stock futures point higher with deals and data in focus

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures were higher on Monday, with investors set to shake off the big sell-off in the prior session as they focused on a well-flagged merger between Continental and United Airlines and the Greek aid package.

Stock futures slightly added to gains after the government estimated U.S. consumer spending rose 0.5% in March.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39 points to 10,977, while those for the Nasdaq 100 rose 9 points to 2,007.5. Futures for the S&P 500 gained 5.6 points to 1,189.

Worries in the financial sector triggered a sharp fall in stocks on Friday, though the month of April was positive.

The S&P 500
SPX, -0.34%
slid 1.7% to 1,187, leaving it down 2.5% for the week, but it gained 1.5% on the month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -0.48%
meanwhile, fell 1.42% to 11,009 on Friday, losing 1.8% on the week but gaining 1.4% on the month.

The Nasdaq Composite
COMP, -0.38%
fell 2% to 2,461 on Friday, falling 2.7%, but gaining 2.6% for the month.

"The Greek deal sealed the fear of a total collapse in the sovereign-debt market, which previously had a spillover effect in Europe on equities; to a lesser extent also in the U.S.," said Christian Tegllund Blaabjerg, chief equity strategist at Saxo Bank.

"From here we expected a rebound in equities and we got one. This will also pull U.S. equities higher today," he said, adding that a strong earnings season has been a solid indicator of the underlying recovery.

Another key factor for markets, though, he said, is the U.S. consumer. First-quarter GDP data released Friday was slightly weaker than expected on Friday, but personal consumption rose 3.6% versus consensus 3.3%.

"In an hour or so a whole string of U.S. consumer related figures is released and we expect very strong numbers here. Actually a bit better than market expectation and that is what is getting priced in currently," said the strategist.

Later data includes March construction spending at 10 a.m. and the ISM manufacturing index for April, also due at 10 a.m. All times are Eastern. The highlight of the week will be Friday's April nonfarm payroll number.

On the deal front, the boards of Continental Airlines
CAL, -2.78%
and United Airlines parent UAL Corp.
UAL, -1.50%
confirmed an all-stock tie-up to form the world's biggest air carrier. Continental was up 2.2% in pre-open, and UAL was up 3.3%. See more on the deal

The mining sector was also busy with deal news. Europe's third-largest steel producer Norsk Hydro on Sunday said it agreed to buy key mining assets from Brazil's Vale SA
VALE, -3.71%
in a $4.9 billion cash and stock deal. See more on the deal

Meanwhile, Glencore International is reportedly working on a proposal for Xstrata PLC (XTA), to create a mining and commodity trading group, according to media reports.

Shares of Goldman Sachs
GS, -0.71%
were up 1.3% in pre-open trade. Over the weekend, at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, Warren Buffett launched a strong defense of Berkshire's $5 billion investment in the investment bank and its embattled chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein.

Shares of Pozen
POZN, +1.56%
rose 10% in pre-open. The company and AstraZeneca
AZN, -1.74%
won approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell arthritis medicine Vimovo, Bloomberg News reported.

European markets posted modest losses, as the agreement of a $146-billion bailout package for Greece from euro-zone members and the International Monetary Fund failed to quiet fears that the crisis could spread to other nations within the euro zone.

The European Central Bank also said on Monday it would suspend the minimum credit-rating threshold for all Greek government debt. The threshold will no longer be a requirement for collateral eligibility for the euro system's credit operations.

Economic data showed euro-zone manufacturing output in April expanded at its fastest clip in nearly 10 years, driven by a record performance in Germany and Austria, though Greece again saw a contraction, a survey showed Monday,

U.K. markets were closed for a holiday on Monday, ahead of a hotly contested general election on Thursday.

The euro was trading down 0.4% against the dollar at $1.3241. Gold was down 80 cents to $1,181.5 an ounce.

Asian stocks were lower Monday, weighed by Wall Street's losses Friday, while Australian miners were hit by plans for a new tax on the resources industry.

Australian nationwide house prices jumped a record 20% in value during the past 12 months, igniting worries of an emerging asset price bubble, and making an interest-rate hike at Tuesday's Reserve Bank policy meeting a near certainly.

Property and bank stocks fell in Hong Kong after China announced over the weekend that it is ordering banks to raise the amount of money they hold in reserves for the third time this year.

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